Valley schools await state’s model policy for cellphone use
Districts wait for state’s guidance
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School districts throughout Ohio will have to develop an official cellphone use policy by July 2025 after Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 250 late last week.
The bill, which passed unanimously in the Ohio Senate and House, requires school districts to emphasize limiting the use of cellphones and reducing cellphone-related distractions in classrooms.
"Our school children currently face countless distractions every day from the devices in their pockets," DeWine said in a news release. "By limiting these distractions, we will reestablish the opportunity for students across Ohio to immerse themselves in their classwork, learn from their teachers and create lifelong memories with their closest friends."
During his State of the State address last month, DeWine called on local school leaders to prohibit the use of cellphones in the classroom.
"This couldn't have happened at a better time," Austintown Local School District Superintendent Tim Kelty said. "We were in talks with the administration about refreshing the policy, and then our governor comes out with this."
While some districts already have policies in place, others will wait for the Department of Education and Workforce to release its model policy before creating one of their own, or tweaking the one they already have in place.
AUSTINTOWN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
At Austintown Middle School, students must keep their cellphones in their lockers, while high school students are allowed to have them, but can't use them during class. After the signing of House Bill 250, Kelty said the district will wait until the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce rolls out its model policy before making any adjustments to its current policy.
"We'll evaluate it and see if some of those things hold," he said.
Kelty, who became the superintendent at Austintown last July and has held multiple roles in the district since 2006, said cellphones were beginning to become an issue at Austintown Fitch High School in 2005. He said a prior superintendent deescalated heavy policing of cellphones by allowing them as learning tools.
"Did we have a policy? Yes, but it was up to the classroom teacher," Kelty said.
Door-pocket cellphone holders were introduced, which helped, but the evolution of technology created more distractions for the students.
"Then they came out with an Apple watch." Kelty said. "So there to me, became the disruptions and distractions. It just kept getting deeper and deeper with it."
Kelty said an estimated 98% of Fitch High School students have a cellphone.
LIBERTY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Liberty Local School District Superintendent Brian Knight said students can use cellphones at the teacher's discretion. So, teachers may allow students to use their cellphones for educational purposes, but students are asked to turn them in before using the restroom so they don't use them freely in the hallways.
"Some teachers will say, 'Here, put it in the pouch' directly in the front of the room," Knight said. "And then students will turn it in there and get it back at the end of class."
Like Austintown, Knight said Liberty will wait for the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to release its model policy and then seek feedback before creating one for the district because Liberty High School students use their phones in a multitude of ways.
Liberty High School uses the SmartPass electronic hall pass system, which can be operated by a phone. Knight said phones also come into play when computers aren't available. "So there are positives to some phones, but then there's also major distractions," Knight said. "The use of social media can present problems at the schools that we're not ready for when they come in the next day."
POLAND LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Poland Local School District Superintendent Craig Hockenberry said his district started to see it had a big problem with cellphone use before last school year began. So, they took action.
"Almost every class was negatively impacted by cellphone usage," Hockenberry said. "You couldn't walk down the hall and give a kid a simple direction because they had airpods in."
At Poland Local Schools, cellphones can't be seen or used at all during class time. However, students are allowed to use their cellphones during lunch and after school, as a "happy medium," according to Hockenberry.
If students are caught using their cellphones in class, Hockenberry said they receive a full day of in-school suspension; students with over three violations, compiling three full-day interventions, could receive an out-of-school suspension.
"It was a pretty big deterrent for kids," Hockenberry said. "Because you know how much kids want to be with their friends, so to take that away, they didn't care for it too much."
Hockenberry further explained that many kids supported the new rules, because it "took a lot of stress off of them," with the fear of missing out. The district also notified parents about the scheduled times for students to check their phones.
Hockenberry credited the Poland Local School District Board of Education for finding ways to enforce the district's cellphone rules without causing students to rebel.
YOUNGSTOWN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Youngstown City School District Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor said the district's code of conduct will see changes related to students' cellphone usage as the district has been researching ways to "tighten up," over the last few years.
"There's sometimes an inconsistency in enforcement for a lot of different reasons," Batchelor said. "Now that the governor says that we absolutely need to, it's just perfect timing for us."
Through talks with other districts, and research by YCSD principals, Batchelor said the district has been considering the potential purchase of phone pouches.
"There are some costs associated with that," Bachelor said. "And there is also some pen power, in terms of making sure that we enforce it and utilize it every day. I've actually put together a subcommittee to study and look at ways that we can look at and implement and enforce our procedures for cellphones."
If the Youngstown City School District Board of Education continues to support ideas brought forward, Batchelor said, "We may look at going to the pouches if it is something that is sustainable."
Other area school districts, such as Niles and Mineral Ridge, said they are going to wait until the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce releases its model policy to develop a plan.
APPLICATIONS
While cellphones can oftentimes be a distraction for students, schools have started to utilize learning applications such as Kahoot, Khan Academy, Newsela, and ReadAlong. However, the need for them varies.
"We use those not only in schools, but we do with our adult learners and professional development," Batchelor said. "But there are other ways that you can engage with those platforms, including Chromebooks and laptops. And we are a 1-to-1 district, so there are ways that we can still do those things without cellphones."
Poland is on the opposite end of the spectrum as YCSD. The district doesn't use any applications tied to phones because Hockenberry couldn't justify allowing some classes to use cellphones while not allowing others.
"It just became very difficult to manage," Hockenberry said. "Kids have to find alternative ways. We have 1-to-1 now, so if the kids need some type of app, they can use that on our internet."